It Appears Mantis Was Supposed To Be Star-Lord’s Half-Sister In ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2’

Perhaps James Gunn should have included another classic ’70s hit on the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 2’ soundtrack– ‘It’s A Family Affair’ by Sly & the Family Stone, as it appears that originally, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) was supposed to have discovered another blood relation that he had previously never known about.

As the film unfolds, Quill discovers that his father, Ego (Kurt Russell) had not only romanced his mother Meredith (played in flashbacks by Laura Haddock), but many women from various worlds, in hopes of spawning an heir powerful enough to help him conquer the universe. All other attempts failed, until Quill was born. During the flashback sequence, Ego was seen romancing a woman from Mantis‘ race, played by Jennifer Sharp.

Now that ‘Guardians 2’ has been out for over a year, Sharp has shared a photo from the set on Instagram:

However, Sharp’s caption has been edited. It originally read:

“It was an honor to work with Kurt Russell even for a short flashback scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 as Mantis’ Mom(even though the scene was cut).”

Gunn has stated that the alien that Sharp played was actually not Mantis’ mother… and it appears that she isn’t… NOW. But perhaps that was the plan originally. In the finished film, it is simply stated that Ego found Mantis (Pom Klementieff) as a larva and raised her so that she could use her powers to help relieve his anxiety and help him sleep. It’s a rather weak, throw-away explanation, although it isn’t too far off from Thanos adopting Nebula and Gamora to torture them and have them fight for him.

There’s some question as to why the need for secrecy at this point. If Mantis was originally written as another child of Ego’s, only for Gunn to change his mind, there’s no harm in discussing that, is there? There is if perhaps there is more story here than we know. Perhaps there are further revelations coming up in ‘Avengers 4’ or ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’. Could it turn out that Mantis really is Peter’s sister?

Jason Motes

Jason’s earliest memory is of watching ‘Batman,’ followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn’t run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes. Jason’s father gamely agreed to read him comic books as bedtime stories instead of ‘Snow White.’ (Super Friends being his favorite.) Jason saw all of the original Star Wars movies (and Indiana Jones and Superman and Star Trek…) in the theaters. Yes, he is old. And grew up in the most GEEKTASTIC decade ever, the 80s, devouring a steady diet of GI Joe, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Princess of Power and (best of all) Jem! (It totally counts as sci fi! They had a sentient computer that projected holograms!) Jason has studied literature, journalism, film history and has a degree in creative writing (and a minor in psychology) from the University of South Alabama. He has worked as a technical writer and proofreader. These days, most of his creative energy goes into his blog and writing for this site! He lives with the cutest puppies ever.